What Makes the top 50 Facebook Fan Pages Work? In the case of Best Buy (#13 on The Big Money list), some real creativity and commitment.
Best Buy has often been used as a case study for how online communities can develop and improve employee performance. In the book groundswell, six pages are dedicated to blueshirtnation, an online employee community credited with improving service at Best Buy stores. If you look at the Best Buy TV ads over the last few years, you will see that the focus is on their sales associates – supporting the premise that good employees = good service.
Their Facebook Fan Page – although not literally a person – has personality. It is rich in interactivity, and also shows that the creators understand Facebook culture. Make no mistake, they are selling, but they are also engaging. I took a look at BestBuy.com – their ecommerce site – and it looked flat and dull by comparison to what they offer on Facebook. This is not a slam on their ecommerce site – it is actually a good site by Web 1.0 standards. However, they should definitely add a Friend Us On Facebook link on BestBuy.com and continue to grow their 1 million+ fan base.
So what am I raving about? The Best buy Fan Page has an active Wall with fans praising, complaining and asking questions. Best Buy is actively engaged there, but there are some other tabs that really caught my attention:
Holiday Fun: There are some useful and fun apps in this tab – and they all support the best Buy brand. The “Hint Helper” lets you select gifts, email your gift request to up to ten friends, share your gift request on your Facebook page and even Tweet your gift requests. The “Secret Santa” app lets you invite Facebook friends to play a game where you get paired up and exchange gifts. A “Christmas Morning Simulator” is coming soon.
Idea Giftr: This section is sub-titled “Inspired gift picks powered by real people.” Gift suggestions are organized by gender and age – adults, teens and children. You can select an item that you would like – and share it with your friends. Or you can select a gift you would like to get for a friend and publish it on your friend’s Wall and get feedback: “I found this gift using Idea Giftr and I thought you would like it. Let me know what you think and get inspired gift ideas powered by real people.”
Shop + Share: This app lets you shop for product online and then share what you bought with your friends. You can also select and item you are thinking of purchasing, share it with you friends and ask for advice.
What if you don’t have an ecommerce site and you are primarily a brick-n-mortar company? Pizza Hut (#35 on The Big Money List) provides fans the ability to order pizzas from Facebook. You can even download an app that streamlines the process.
What is the basic lesson-learned from Best Buy? Companies need to go beyond understanding their customers in the traditional sense (demographics, buying patterns, etc.) and include understanding the environment in which they are engaging with their customers. Best Buy is not promoting in the old-school way. It gets how people interact on Facebook and has not only adapted to the culture but taken full advantage of it.
